Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (57 page)

"Good, good…take another deep
breath and, with the next contraction, push again."

She did as he asked, collapsing back onto
the bed when it was over.

"I can’t do this anymore." She
exclaimed with labored breathing.

"Yes you can." the doctor said
firmly. "Come on, we are almost there."

"You can do this." I looked
directly into her eyes. "Come on!" I pulled her up and watched her
push with all the strength she had left in her.

"Okay, we have her head. Control
your push, Lilli."

Lilli took a couple of breaths and
slowly pushed down. Crying resounded through the room, our second baby was
here.

"We have our girl." the doctor
announced, "and we just made it. They will have the same birthday." I
looked up at the clock and realized that it was now eleven forty-eight at
night.

There was no holding back my tears this
time as the doctor placed my daughter on Lilli’s stomach and wrapped her up in
a cotton blanket. I laughed and cried at the same time, kissing Lilli on the
side of her head.

Tears were now streaming down Lilli’s
cheeks. I looked up and took in the room, noticing everyone with tears
streaming down their face. Sarah and Viola were huddled together, smiling and
crying. I had never felt so fulfilled in all of my life.

Once the doctor was finished, one nurse moved
to clean Lilli while the other cleaned our daughter. The nurse brought her back
to us and Lilli took her into her arms, cradling her.

"Can we have Walsh, too?"
Lilli asked the nurse, who looked at her funny. "The other baby."
Lilli fought laughing at her. The nurse smiled and left to get our son.

"Did you say Walsh?" Sarah
asked curiously.

"Uh-huh." Lilli said, smiling
at the little girl wrapped in pink, lying quietly in her lap. "You are
quieter than your brother." Lilli cooed to her.

"So, you’re naming the baby after
Aidan?" Sarah asked.

"Yes." Lilli said again, still
focusing on the sleeping angel in front of her. "It’s a family name."

The nurse returned to the room, pushing the
bassinet that held Aidan.

"There he is…" Lilli said with
a smile and then turned to our little girl. "Did you miss your brother?
You want to see him don’t you?" The nurse handed Walsh to Lilli. She laid
the babies side by side on her lap, her smile never faltering. She looked
beautiful.

"I’m going to go tell everyone."
Viola said happily.

"Viola." Lilli called after
her.

"Yes, dear?"

"Can you just have them all come
back?" Lilli smiled as Viola nodded, even happier, and hurried to get
everyone.

"Are you sure that you want
everyone in here at once?" I asked her without taking my eyes from the
babies. She scooted over a little and patted the bed. I sat next to her easily
and wrapped my arm around her as we both lay there with our new additions.

"I say we get it over with in one
shot. Like pulling of a Band-Aid." She laughed.

Everyone filed into the room. Everyone,
Lilli smiled warmly and greeted them all.

"Everyone, meet Aidan Walsh Iverson
IV and Olivia Arwen Iverson. Walsh and Livy, this is everyone." Lilli
smiled wide and I smiled with her.

"Walsh and Livy?" I asked with
a raised eyebrow. She nodded with a smirk.

"Arwen?" Phoebe asked as she
moved to get a closer look. Celia was close on her heels, a large smile on her
face.

Lilli nodded and held up Livy.
"Olivia was Aidan’s grandmother’s name, the grandmother he knew. Arwen is
his grandmother Isobel’s middle name." She shrugged. "I saw it in
some of the things Aidan had gotten and fell in love with it."

I hadn’t even realized Isobel’s middle
name. My eyes filled with more tears at her explanation.

"Thank you." I whispered to
her. When she turned to me with a smile, I kissed her and cupped her cheek,
"For everything." Then she kissed me.

"Okay, enough! Stop scarring my
little cousins!" James walked over and picked up Walsh.

"I’ll save Livy!" Phoebe
swooped in and picked her up.

Everyone passed the babies around and
‘oohed’ and ‘awed’ over them for about four hours before everyone started to
leave.

Lilli lay on her right side, snuggled up
to me, her head resting on my chest and her arm over my stomach. Both of my
arms were wrapped around her tightly and there was no stopping the kissing I
was compelled to shower on her.

Dixon was holding Livy and giving her a
goofy smile.

"I think that a little girl would
suit you, Dixon." He looked up at the sound of Lilli speaking to him.

He shrugged. "I guess." He
turned to Celia. "What do you think, baby? Wanna make a little girl
tonight?"

Celia leaned in seductively. "Sure."
She purred out and Dixon’s eyes widened.

"Really?" He spit out
anxiously.

"I’m joking." Celia shook her
head. "I thought that you would be scared away from the idea if I
agreed." Celia looked flabbergasted.

"Hell no!" Dixon earned a
‘shush’ from Phoebe. "I can just see it now, a little girl with your eyes
and lips, my smile and curly brown hair." He shrugged and turned back
Livy. I think that we all watched Celia fall even more in love with Dixon in
that very moment.

"But, if you aren’t ready…" he
handed Livy to Sarah, "I’m all about the practice makes perfect
motto." He wiggled his eyebrows at her while swiveling his hips. Everyone
burst into laughter and Celia hid her face.

Looking at the time. I realized that it
was almost four thirty in the morning. I ushered everyone out of the room and
the nurse took the babies to the nursery.

I was instructed to use the recliner
next to Lilli’s bed. However, there wasn’t anyone or anything that could keep me
out of that bed with her. Even if she hadn’t just given me the two most
precious things in my life, I had slept next to her for so long that I didn’t
think that I could ever not sleep next to her.

Two days later, we were making our
arrival home. Jay, Rachel, Mrs. White and Alex were all in the foyer awaiting
us.

Lilli was still sore but feeling really
good. Though, she was upset that I didn’t allow her to carry anything, not even
a baby. Once inside, the things were taken to the nursery and we let everyone
visit with the babies before we headed to the nursery with them.

"I’ll prepare something to eat."
Rachel called up the stairs after us.

"Oh, Rachel, do you know how much I
love you?" Lilli exclaimed. "That hospital food has nothing on yours!
At all!"

I could hear Rachel laugh as she headed
toward the kitchen.

"We’re home." I announced as
we walked into the nursery with both babies.

"Finally." Lilli exclaimed as
she laid Livy into her pink crib.

Having already laid Walsh down, I
quickly moved behind her and put my arms around her waist. She leaned back into
my chest and sighed.

"I love you." I whispered into
her ear and kissed her neck.

"Mmm…I love you too." She
whispered back.

"You have made me the happiest man
on the planet, you know that?" I turned her around.

She smiled up at me.

"I’m not sure about that, but I am
glad that you are happy." Placing her small hand on my cheek while she
spoke, I covered her hand with mine and leaned into her touch. Before letting
her pull away, I kissed the palm of her hand.

Lilli went to shower and change her
clothes while I stayed in the nursery. I sat in the reclining chair between
both cribs, listening to their steady breathing and the small noises they made
while sleeping. Walsh was definitely the wild child already; he was very vocal.
Livy was quiet and peaceful. I wondered if it was a sign of what their
personalities would be like as they grew up.

My mind started to drift, thinking of
Lilli at my side while we watched our children grow. I started picturing the
future years to come. Surprisingly to me, I saw Walsh with wild auburn hair and
his mother’s hazel eyes, full of depth, emotion and intensity. Livy shared the
same hair color with more curl, as well as my green eyes. Her skin was the
mirror image of her mother’s; soft, porcelain and perfect. Then, there was
Lilli. Still as beautiful as ever, her stomach swollen with another child. It
was the last part that surprised me the most. I already knew that I wanted to
have as many children as she would allow me, silently praying that she would
want more, too.

Rachel’s voice broke me out of my
daydream.

I grabbed one of the portable monitors
as I walked out of the room to get Lilli. Still looking down at the monitor, I
hadn’t seen the bedroom door open and Lilli walk out. We smacked into each
other, her head connecting with my nose.

"Oh my god! Aidan? Are you
okay?" Lilli exclaimed. "I’m so sorry…I didn’t see you coming."

I cupped my nose and blinked a couple of
times to clear the spots that I was seeing. I leaned against the wall. Pulling
back my hand, Lilli gasped and ran back into the bedroom.

Looking down at my hand, I saw that it
was covered in blood. Lilli returned with a towel from the bathroom and held it
up to me. I took it and put it to my face.

"I’m so sorry." She said
again.

"It was an accident." My words
were muffled from the fluffy Egyptian cotton that was pressed to my face. Lilli
followed me to our bathroom.

I pulled the towel away and saw Lilli
cringe in the mirror.

"I’m so, so sorry." She
covered her face.

"It’s okay." I chuckled out.

Turning the water faucet to a cool
temperature, I washed the blood from my face and used the towel to clean off
the blood before it dried. Once I was finished, I could tell that my eyes were
going to turn black. Lilli obviously could tell too.

She sat down on the side of the tub,
placing her head in her hands. I turned around, focusing my attention on her.

"Lilli?" She wouldn’t look up.
"Lilli, look at me?" She shook her head. "Please?" I walked
closer to her. She lifted her head and I could tell she was crying.

Pulling her up and into my arms, I tried
to soothe her.

"Don’t cry, love, it was an
accident."

"Your eyes are going to turn
black." She sobbed slightly. "It’s my fault. I’m so, so sorry."

I rubbed her back. "Calm down. It’s
fine, really." I pulled away and looked at her. She looked at me and wiped
her cheeks. "Okay?" She nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to smile.

Moving in to kiss her, she pulled away.
"Keep your face away from my head. I’m dangerous." She said and walked
away, clearly still upset.

I moved to her side quickly and wrapped
my arms around her, turning her to me. I kissed her before she could pull away
from me. The kiss was meant to be loving, but immediately turned passionate.
The taste of her on my lips was so amazing.

Sliding my tongue over her lips, she
opened her mouth to me. I took full advantage, plunging my tongue into her
mouth greedily. My hold on her tightened and I backed her to the wall, pressing
my entire body against hers. Soon my hips were rocking into hers slowly.

"Aidan…" she mumbled against
my lips. I kept kissing her, moving my mouth over her neck. "Aidan…"
she panted out.

"Hmmm…?" I hummed against her
neck.

"You need…oh god…you need to
stop." She slid her hand into my hair and gripped as I lightly bit her
collar bone.

"Mmhmm…" I mumbled against her
neck and rocked my hips into hers again.

"Ai…" I covered her mouth with
mine and brought my hand up to cup her breast, softly massaging. She pulled my
hand away.

"Stop." She murmured against my
mouth and pushed me away.

"What?" I asked confused, both
of our breathing labored.

She blushed and then motioned to her
chest. I looked down.

"Oh…I’m…I’m sorry." I pulled
myself back from her.

"We can’t…uh…do anything…not for a
couple of months." She looked uncomfortable with the conversation.
"And…well…these." She motioned to her breasts, one with a wet spot on
it now, "will sort of be off limits while I’m breast feeding."

I nodded, embarrassed at my lack of
control.

"I’m gonna…uh…go change." She
moved away from me as quickly as she could.

I was such a fucking idiot. I pressed my
forehead against the wall, tapping my nose. "Shit." I groaned low.
The pain in my nose was nasty.

Lilli returned with a different shirt on,
attempting to walk passed me quickly, keeping her eyes away from looking at me.

"Hey." I grabbed her hand and
walked with her down the stairs. "Don’t feel…look, I’m sorry that I
started…I mean, I forgot that…"

"It’s okay." She shrugged,
"just slightly embarrassing."